Park will be watered with London's recycled sewage

Sewage from across London will be recycled to water gardens in the Olympic Park by a new treatment plant.

The £7 million facility close to the Stratford site will convert waste into non-drinking water that will also be used to flush lavatories at Games venues.

Jointly-funded by Thames Water and the Olympic Delivery Authority, the plant is designed to help meet London 2012's green ambitions.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman today opened the Old Ford plant, which will provide 574 million litres of water every day -enough for 80,000 flushes or to fill 83 Olympic swimming pools a year.

It is the biggest black water treatment works in Britain and will help cut the Olympic Park's reliance on drinking quality water by 58 per cent. Mrs Spelman said such measures were needed to guarantee a reliable supply of water if rainfall levels drop. Parts of the country are on drought alert following the driest year since 1976.

"Despite our reputation as a rainy country, we may face a future with less rainfall and less certainty about when that rain will fall," she said.

"Projects like this, that safely recycle water and prevent the need for fresh water to be used where it isn't needed, have a crucial role to play."

The new facility uses waste water from the Northern Outfall Sewer, which collects sewage from north of the Thames and is part of the Victorian network designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette. Recycled water is then pumped into pipes that separate it from drinking water.